I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM

Chapter 715: Olivia’s concern

Julian had just reached the top of the main staircase when a voice came from behind him.

"Kraven."

Julian paused, one foot hovering above the first stair. He turned slowly.

Olivia was approaching from the far end of the corridor. She walked with the same natural composure she carried everywhere, but there was something different about her this morning. Her orange gown was modest, flowing smoothly behind her, and her hair was loose around her shoulders rather than pinned.

"Yes, Mother?" Julian said, offering her a small, respectful bow.

Olivia stopped few feet away from him. She hesitated for a visible moment, her fingers tightening slightly around the small bundle of letters she was carrying.

"I need to talk to you," she said, her voice low enough that only he could hear.

Julian felt Kraven’s patterns stir somewhere beneath the surface. The body recognized her proximity, her loose hair and the slight vulnerability in her expression. He suppressed the reaction, forcing it down before it could reach his expression or his voice.

"Of course," he said. "What would you like to talk about, mother."

She glanced around at the busy corridor. Several servants were already pretending not to watch them.

"Follow me."

She led him through the main corridor and then away from it, taking a turn that Julian hadn’t used since arriving in the castle. The passage narrowed slightly and the noise of the morning preparations faded behind them as they went deeper into a quieter section of the building. The servants here were fewer.

She stopped before a particular door near the end of the passage. She opened it, stepped aside and gestured him to enter.

Julian walked in.

The room was small and plainly furnished. A table, two chairs, one mirror and a single mana lamp on the wall that had not been lit yet. Morning light came through a narrow window and there was nothing special about it.

It was clearly not a room anyone used regularly. The kind of room that gets forgotten in such a large castle.

Olivia came in behind him and closed the door, the sound of latch echoing in the small room.

She turned to face him.

"You are an Arch Mage?" she asked directly. Her voice was steady, but there was clear tension beneath it.

Julian tilted his head slightly. "Yes, mother," he said.

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. She took one step closer. "How."

"I beg your pardon?"

"How," she repeated. The word came out with more force than the first time. "You were talented, Kraven. I will give you that. You always had more raw ability than you ever bothered to apply. But talent is one thing and Arch Mage is another. That is not a gap that closes in a few months in Ezakael." She held his gaze without wavering. "That is not a gap that closes in a few years for most people. So I want to know how."

Julian smiled faintly. "Most parents would be happy to learn their son is a hidden genius."

Olivia nearly rolled her eyes.

"I am not in the mood for jokes," she said flatly. "Tell me what happened in Ezakael. Did you take something you should not have? Black market cultivation pills? Some kind of restricted technique? Borrowed power?" She paused. "Dark magic?"

Julian let out a short, genuine laugh.

"Calm down, mother. I did not do anything illegal."

"Then what," she pressed. Her voice had dropped lower, different from the usual composed tone of a noblewoman.

"This family has already suffered because of your behavior in the past. If you have acquired something that should not be acquired or made a deal with something that should not be approached... we will have nothing left to save ourselves with."

Her eyes were fixed on his with an intensity that carried the specific weight of someone who was used to dealing with someone else’s mistake.

"Please explain this to me, Kraven."

He thought quickly.

He could tell her he had simply trained harder. That he had focused, put in the time, and that his efforts had finally begun to show results. It was a clean story and simple to maintain.

But Olivia would not believe it.

She knew Kraven too well. She understood exactly what he was capable of—and what he wasn’t. That alone would be enough to make her question it.

And beyond that, she understood cultivation. She knew how it worked, what it required, and how long real progress took. No amount of effort in Ezakael would be enough to turn someone like Kraven into an Arch Mage in such a short time.

The logic simply didn’t hold.

And Olivia was far too intelligent not to see through it. He needed something believable. Something she would have no choice but to accept.

He was quiet for a moment, as if deciding something. Then he moved to one of the chairs and sat.

Olivia watched him.

"Sit down, mother," he said.

She hesitated for just a fraction of a second. Then she pulled the other chair out and sat opposite of him, the small table between them.

"What I am about to tell you," he said, "does not leave this room. Not to father. Not to Vanessa. Not to anyone."

Olivia’s expression shifted slightly. "Kraven—"

"I need you to agree to that before I continue," he said firmly.

A silence passed between them.

She looked at him with an expression that was clearly trying to decide whether to trust him or stay cautious.

"Agreed," she said finally.

Julian nodded.

"In Ezakael," he said, "I encountered something."

Olivia said nothing.

"I had been there for two months when it happened," Julian said. "I wasn’t looking for anything. I wasn’t chasing anything. I was just living in that city and trying to figure out what I would do next."

He paused for a moment. "And then I found a place."

"What kind of place?" she asked.

"A ruin," Julian said. "An old one. Older than anything in this kingdom by a large margin. Ezakael is a city that has been built and rebuilt many times, so sometimes pieces of older era remain hidden under newer buildings."